San Antonio City Council voted unanimously to hire Andrew “Andy” Segovia, a U.S. Navy veteran and San Antonio native, as the new city attorney on Tuesday morning. His first day will be Aug. 29.
Segovia, 57, said working for the City will be an exciting professional challenge after more than two decades in the private sector. Finding such an opportunity in his beloved hometown is “only icing on the cake,” he said.
The attorney has an extensive academic record, including degrees from Notre Dame, Texas A&M University, and the UT School of Law.
“Andy you have the best of both worlds,” said Councilman Joe Krier (D9) of Segovia’s local education.
Segovia worked for General Motors in Detroit for 26 years.
“(I’ve gone from) representing one of the iconic companies in America to representing one of the iconic cities in the country,” he said.
“I think a lot of the experience that I gained at corporate America I can translate pretty easily to be (useful) for the City of San Antonio,” Segovia said. “I think that a lot of the skill sets are the same, and I think I’m a pretty quick learner. I can fill those gaps pretty easily.”
Segovia praised the progress at work in San Antonio, from the evolution of Loop 1604 and U.S. Hwy 281 to the recent boom in downtown developments.
“I’ve seen the quality of life here in San Antonio … really grow in the last several years, and I’m really excited to now be part of that,” Segovia said. “The family’s very excited to be back as well.”
Though he has yet to reveal any specific plans he has for the City, one of Segovia’s primary goals involves bringing new levels of professionalism to all who step into his office, “whether that be a citizen or a councilman, whether it be friend or foe.
“Right now my plan is to get here, get to know the organization, get to know what the objectives are, and obviously there will be changes as I come in,” Segovia said. “What those specific changes are, I don’t know yet … but we are going to … improve and try to grow as an organization.”
“I hope that we will be very responsive, courteous, and respectful to anybody who deals with us, and our main objective is to help the City Council (and) the city manager and make the quality of life for the community a lot better,” Segovia added.
All council members commended Martha Sepeda for her work as acting city attorney over the past two years. The resignation of former San Antonio City Attorney Robbie Greenblum in 2014 attracted 30 candidates to apply for his position.
Segovia said Sepeda “will be a hard act to follow” but promised he will not disappoint his city.
“I can’t wait to see who you’re going to root for in college football this season,” said Councilman Chris Medina (D7). “We’re fortunate to have a candidate as qualified as you.”
Councilman Robert Treviño (D1) told Segovia he’ll “probably have one of the toughest jobs in the city.”
Mayor Ivy Taylor believes Segovia will find public service very gratifying but said the position can often be like “herding cats.”
“You won’t miss shoveling snow,” Taylor said. “Welcome back to the family.”
Top image: Andrew Segovia officially accepts the position as San Antonio’s city attorney on Thursday, Aug. 4, 2016. Photo by Fred Gonzales for COSA.
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